One of my favorite activities during recess was playing on the teeter-totter. My best friends and I would race to the tallest, most dangerous one, oftentimes pushing others aside to get there first. Out of the three available, the middle one was the best. Its red paint was nearly all chipped away, but it still held great appeal. It felt like hours before the recess whistle blew, signaling our return to class. The wind would blow through our pigtails as we soared up high, our little bodies bouncing when the friend below struck the ground. The higher the bounce, the better. We had a thrill for danger as we knew it, and we enjoyed every second of it.It has been years since I’ve played on a teeter-totter. Now that my legs are longer than the distance to the ground, I’m not even sure I’d like to sit on one, out of fear of ruining my treasured memories. But there is definitely a teeter-totter called life. One moment, there are pigtails blowing in the wind. The next moment, we're plopped down in the sand. Contrary to what The Home Guide to Health might say, I’m pretty sure I can’t blame it on hormones.
Life is up, and then it’s down. There is middle ground of course, but it’s the extremes we remember. Our achievements and successes stick with us, while our failures and pain lingers. But there is one constant balance beam in the middle of our teeter-totter. It doesn’t walk away; it doesn’t even budge when we hit the ground. Imagine a teeter-totter without a middle balance. It wouldn’t work. And neither would our life work without a stable hand guiding our way. He is there when we are up. And He is always there when we are down.
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